Trivia about the Natural Gas lndustry

With a total upstream and downstream investment portfolio of around US$4.5 billion, the Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power project is the largest investment to date in the country. The gas reservoir, situated some 80 kilometres offshore northwest Palawan, is about 3,000 metres below sea level, making the project one of the frontier deep water developments in the world.

Considered the cleanest fossil fuel, extracted natural gas is dried at the platform, transported via a 504-km pipeline to an onshore gas plant in Batangas for further processing, and then piped to three combined cycle gas-fired power stations with a total capacity of 2700 MW The project’s offshore production platform facility, whose float-over installation constituted an engineering world record, is the heaviest and largest integrated platform topsides deck ever constructed in the Asia-Pacific region. Built in Subic Bay, the production platform base or concrete gravity structure is the largest concrete structure to have moved across Philippine waters.

As the SC-38 Service Contractor for the Department of Energy, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., together with joint venture partners Texaco Philippines Inc., and Philippine National Oil Company – Exploration Corporation, is responsible for the development and operation of the upstream component of the project.

For the Philippines, the Malampaya project brings with it not only great environmental and economic benefits through government revenues and foreign exchange savings, but also hope via the birth of a new industry: the natural gas industry.

Stamps and Official First Day Covers will be available starting 16 October 2001 at the Philatelic Division, Door 203, Liwasang Bonifacio, 1000 Manila and all Regional office of the Philippine Postal Corporation. 21 September